Judges Comment: This photo needs no introduction. It’s one of those immaculate moments in portraiture where it seems every detail has decided to grant its blessing. Even the composition, a centered image works to the benefit of the moment. This is one of those moments when a good photographer knows when it’s time to become the keen observer of an exquisite moment. Wow.

Judges Comment: This would have been a wonderful image by nature of the location alone but the photographer has propelled the image forward with respect to the moment. An image that could have been a laborious contrivance was elevated to a higher form by avoiding the prodigiousness of control beyond what was essential.

Judges Comment: This photo is so blissfully free of convention that its “snap-shot” appearance is a clever device that retains all the flavor of the moment by adding the visual veracity of happenstance. Color, light and composition, however, are the foundations of this image - the work of a skilled shooter.

Judges Comment: What a wild contrivance utilizing the scenic decor in a way that also hints at multiple layers of thought and form. The paintings on the wall stitch the scene together and we await the next chapter of this couple’s life.

Judges Comment: Here is elegance of light and composition, as though the surroundings have become the ornate wrapping of a precious gift. Their stance together, her face looking downward with a hint of coyness adds a soft edge to the cool tones and elaborate scene.

Judges Comment: Yes, it’s assertive and perhaps a tad pretentious but it’s also the fitting location for a couple that complete their environs with matching expressions. Thus the joke is on us and why should it be any different as we peer across a rack of comic books?

Judges Comment: The umbrellas framing bride and groom is a colorful approach that speaks as much to the festive event as it does the smile on the groom’s face. Even better is that red and white are the traditional colors of Valentine’s Day.

Judges Comment: The saturated colors mixed with the slightly arching shapes created by the lens, blends nicely with the couple leaning into one another for a kiss, as chin and neck create another sloping archway.

Judges Comment: The lighting in this image is decadently beautiful. The subjects take their place in the scene and become objects of design accented not only by the room but also by the artful composition of the image.

Judges Comment: It’s not often that a photographer gets an opportunity like this with a rainbow crossing a beautiful sky, a bride in a beautiful dress, a deserted road crossing a prairie and all of it occurring during the magic light prior to sunset. Fortunately the photographer met the opportunity with the blessings of a well composed photo.

Judges Comment: Her veil shrouds half the view thereby adding a wonderful smokey look that creates a feeling of magic or mystery. But the disarming smiles of this couple are the defining aspects of a moment that presents itself with an engaging aplomb.

Judges Comment: The intimate flirtation between bride and groom amidst a dizzying array of blurred highlights creates a feeling of unabashed voyeurism - the kind of delight found in “people watching,” yet the image never oversteps its bounds and thus foregoes self-consciousness.